This tiny ladies automatic movement is a real challenge as it is about one third the size of the standard men’s movement.
At first glance the movement shows some scars on the screw heads but no corrosion.Then I remove the auto winder assembly.The dial is in good condition, but the old varnish is in no state to be worn by a lady. Removing the dial I just can’t help but enjoy the beauty of this tiny movementI remove the cap jewels.I then remove the balance and unscrew the train and barrel bridge.In the barrel you can see that the mainspring consists of two parts; a standard main spring and a small spring with a hook on it that slides when fully wound. I dismantle the setting mechanism.Everything is nice and clean from the cleaning machine.I grease the old mainspring and put it back in the barrel.Barrel and bridge back in placeTrain Bridge and winding mechanism are in place so that I can wind the movement and oil the pallets.The movement starts ticking straight away when placing the balance back in place.Performance is excellent considering it still has the old mainspring.As I mentioned earlier the dial looks good for it’s age and I decide to give it a gentle clean in hot water with vinegar, I’m very carful so not to lose any lettering.A clean dial with a fresh layer of varnish.Autowinder bridge back in place. Dial and hands on the movement. The oscillating weight is the last part I assemble before closing the case.I love this tiny watch for it’s simple beauty and complicated movement.For comparison you can see how tiny this watch is next to a men’s Eterna.
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looking at the photos it looks like the new varnish has ‘pulled up’ a bit around the hour markers – is this really there, or am I seeing ‘canals on mars’? Obviously, would be completely invisible to the naked eye…
Hi Stuart,
YEs you are right, but as you point out it is almost invisible to the naked eye. Better use a thiner dilution on such a small dial;)
Hello!
Could you please elaborate on how you oil the pallets?
Do you oil it only once with a small amount of Moebius941?
Or three times: once, advance the escapement wheel 5 teeth, once again, advance the escapement wheel 5 teeth, and finally once more?
Thank you,
Bogdan
Hi Bogdan
I usually oil the left pallet stone while not engaged. I try to hit the 2/3 of the pallet face. I then advance the escape wheel so the oil get’s evenly distributed on the impulse face. Most often I oil 3 times.
Thank you very much for the info, very helpful!
Wow Mitka.
That dial really makes this particular service stand out. The practice on the varnish removal really have paid off here.
Lovely.
Thanks Stephen:)